Day 9: Wow, That's a Big Hole!

Got up to a beautiful morning in Vegas. After Marsha took John to the airport, we explored the hotel a little more and discovered a wonderful little greenhouse area with several sculptures made with fresh flowers.

From there we went over to The Flamingo for Krispy Kreme donuts (taste of home) while I tracked down the Bugsy Siegel monument that marks where the original Flamingo once stood (now the wedding chapel and garden).

We had an awesome time in Vegas and all agreed we'd like to come back on our next planned trip to California. Two things of interest that we noticed: while the hotel rooms are non-smoking, the casinos are definitely not. Big difference from NYC and elsewhere. We even had to wait for another elevator once because a guy was still smoking as he got on. The other was the struggling actors dressed in costumes posing for photos (and tips)* like you see in LA and NYC. We saw Mickey and Minnie, Batman and the Joker, Hello Kitty, and others. I really felt for the full-bodied, or at least head-covered, ones due to the heat. Most impressive were a Bumblebee Transformer with light-up eyes, and a spot-on Hangover III-specific Zach Galifianakis, complete with life-sized giraffe's head. Major props for attention to detail.

* There's a great documentary, among others, on the Hollywood Blvd. comic book crew called Confessions of a Superhero.

For today's drive to the Grand Canyon, we finally turned east for the eventual trip home. It was, thankfully, much shorter than our last couple of days, so we were able to catch a few sites along the way. We even drove on I-40 for a couple of hours, which practically leads to our front door.

On our way out of town, we swung by Fremont Street for a look at the original strip. It's blocked due to pedestrian traffic and there's so much extra clutter in addition to the roof, that it was impossible to see any of the old casinos. We'll just have to settle for a picture book I have when we get back home.

Next stop was the Hoover Dam. Since we last crossed it 13 years ago, they've built a new bridge with high concrete walls (due to the severe crosswinds, I presume) that completely block the view. However, you can still take the scenic route that goes right across the dam. Marsha and Madison hopped out for some quick photos. After we crossed the dam and into Arizona, we found ourselves in a parking lot. The road back to the highway was closed, so we had to go back into Nevada to cross the bridge to get back into Arizona again. I quite liked the two clock towers on each end which tell you what time it is in each state, though I didn't actually read what they said. Yes, this is foreshadowing.

Then it was back on the long highway across more arid, largely vegetation-free, and awesome landscape towards the Grand Canyon. Thankfully, there was little traffic, so the drive was great. We had about a third of a tank of gas and the car had calculated that we'd have plenty to stop in a little town called Kingman. Much of the trek was uphill, though, so I was getting a little nervous when the needle kept dropping and there were no gas stations in sight. Not to mention that we had no cell service and it was 112 degrees outside. Filling up again was quite a relief.

Kingman is on the Historic Route 66, so we took a short detour to "get our kicks on Route 66." We saw a couple of classic Route 66 establishments where Madison could see the clear inspiration for Pixar's Cars.

Next came a bit of confusion as we found ourselves in a time paradox. We'd reset the GPS to Mountain Time after crossing back into Arizona. It looked like we only had two hours to get to the Grand Canyon, but the GPS said we had three. We'd already driven a couple of hours (despite our little detours), so it just didn't add up. I finally remembered that Arizona doesn't practice Daylight Savings Time, so technically the time had not actually changed when we left Nevada. This really helped our schedule, but it sure had us scratching our heads for a bit. Some signs at each time zone border (at least on major highways) would have been very helpful. I remember seeing time zone signs last time, but not on any trip since. The only time zone sign I've seen this entire trip was for Pacific Time when going back across the Hoover Dam.

We arrived at our final destination (and cooler temps), the El Tovar hotel on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. El Tovar is another turn of the century historic hotel, built from giant logs, just like the Old Faithful Inn. In fact, they were completed within six-months of each other. Parking is a challenge and there are no elevators, but the hotel has changed little in the last 100+ years and it's amazing.

What's even better is that the Canyon rim is literally just feet from the hotel. You can sit on the porch, or walk a few more feet and sit on a bench overlooking the Canyon. There's just a little stone wall, and that's it. Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it. When we were here last, four-year-old Madison exclaimed, "Wow, That's a Big Hole!"

The original train depot still sits just below the hotel, where all of the guests used to arrive. It, too, has changed little in the past century. I hope we can go inside tomorrow.

The restaurant here is fantastic. We ate here 13 years ago and couldn't wait to repeat the experience. The menu has changed, now even better, and the service was spot-on.

And if that wasn't enough, as I was bringing in the last suitcase, there were two elk grazing right in front of the hotel!

Throughout the evening, they were joined by others. By the time it got dark, they were joined by at least ten others, including two little ones. Some were still grazing, while others just layed down to relax. It was just like Animal Kingdom Lodge, but without the barriers. After dinner, we sat on a bench overlooking the Canyon, enjoying the night air, surrounded by relaxing elk. Now, you can't end a day any better than that.

Day 9: The Road to Vegas, Baby!

Salt Lake City and Las Vegas are two worlds apart, and yet when you leave Salt Lake City to the west, the road signs point to Reno one way, and Vegas the other. Driving to Vegas also illustrates the differences between the two. Nowhere on this whole trip have we experienced such drastic changes in the landscape in a single day.

Before we left town, we wanted to stop by Saltair. We'd been there 13 years ago, and we wanted Madison to see the Great Salt Lake again, this time so that she could remember it. The current Saltair pavilion (#3 actually -- the first two burned down) is actually about a mile from the original, and hosts local music acts. It was kind if sad-looking 13 years ago, and not much has changed on that front.

The gift shop has photos and s scale model of the original, built in 1893, which was quite enormous. The train took people right up to the front door, practically. In addition to a large theater, there was a hotel, Ferris wheel, and more. The biggest attraction of all, of course, was the lake itself, which advertised that it was impossible to sink due to the high salt content.

The lake had really receded when we got there (apparently quite a problem for the original resort), so we had to walk out a good ways in the sandy lakebed to fill the tiny plastic bottle we'd gotten at the gift shop.

Then it was back in the car for the six-hour (or so) drive to Vegas. The farms (llama and lavender were distinct stand-outs today) finally gave way to red, arid rocks as we headed into the desert. I also noticed yesterday that Utah (at least in the West) seems the be the dividing line between states that roll hay up in giant rolls (as seen on The Amazing Race), and states that go with the more traditional, block-shaped bale.

Gleefully, I saw our first of a few 80 mph zones today, but I was hard-pressed to actually drive that fast due to the massive amount of traffic leaving Salt Lake and on the way to Nevada. Who knew there would be that many people heading from Salt Lake towards Vegas? Made me long to be back on that desolate highway in Montana just a few days earlier.

I realized yesterday that the best business to be in is the manufacture of orange and white traffic barrels. We've now driven from one side of the country to the other, and I've seen them in every state. Sometimes in work zones for as long as 60 miles (no exaggeration). I learned on our last cross-country trip that no matter how far away from civilization you are, you can always find road construction. Today was a perfect example. As we left Utah, we dipped through the top corner of Arizona for about 40 miles or so. Scorching hot, 120 degree mountainous desert. And that's where we hit road construction. 

We were stuck for nearly an hour trying to merge two lanes into one. When we finally got to the actual construction site, there was no sign of anything being done. At the next town, the poor McDonalds, gas station, and other fast food places were overrun by a bunch of ticked off people who really needed to go to the bathroom.

We got into Vegas pressed for time and a bit behind schedule, but luckily our son, John, had flown in yesterday and had already checked us into the Bellagio. Which is beautiful and freakin' HUGE, by the way. Marsha just loves the buttons that open the curtains in our room. John quite likes the extra reading lights over each bed.

The temp when we got here had dropped to a cool 107. A big switch from the 60s and lower we'd just experienced in Yellowstone. But it's a dry heat, you know.

We got ready lickety-split and then went straight to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill (another first for us, though we love Bar Americain in NYC) next door at Caesar's while I ran to pick up our Beatles Love (Cirque du Soleil) tickets next door again at the Mirage. Managed to get lost a couple of times, but made it back (mostly) in time for dinner. I asked several people for directions as I tried to cut through the  hotels. Some of the people gave me great directions, others not so much.

The meal was fantastic, but the service a bit slow. Seems they need fewer wait staff who just stand around and more people in the kitchen. We had to eat quickly, but luckily we still had time for dessert, which was Marsha's and Madison's favorite part of the menu (churros and sticky pudding).

Our next-to-final treat was the show itself. We got there just in the nick of time, especially since I now know the route. I had originally thought that Cirque du Soleil and The Beatles were an odd combination, but it really was a perfect fit. This show had a lot more dancing and fewer circus acts than the other two shows we'd seen, but it was less weird. There were several parts that were just totally unique, like the amount of sets that came up from the floor, an "exploding" life-size VW Bug, and a giant parachute that they used to cover the entire audience. That was the craziest thing I've ever seen. All-in-all the show was amazing and our favorite Cirque show!

Our final treat was the fountain show at Bellagio, which was more awesome than any of us remembered. The song choice we heard couldn't have been better: "Luck Be a Lady" by Frank Sinatra. Had no idea the water could shoot as high as it does. It sounded like cannons firing. Probably with good reason.